Hurricane Polo is writing a new chapter in the record books. On Tuesday, as the storm was intensifying, its central pressure dropped to 892 millibars. Few storms in this part of the world ever become as intense as Polo did on Tuesday afternoon.

In 2025, Hurricane Melissa smashed into Jamaica after its pressure plummeted to 892 millibars. Historical records in the Eastern Pacific are not quite as robust, but 2015’s Hurricane Patricia remains the gold standard. Patricia holds the record for the entire Western Hemisphere, bottoming out at 872 millibars.

Polo has weakened a little since Tuesday, but as it goes through a restructuring common to intense storms, it may regain strength. Usually, when a storm’s pressure drops this low, ferocious winds follow. But Polo is unusual: It was nearly stationary, yet still strengthening.

The culprit is unusually warm waters off the western coast of Mexico, supercharged by El Niño. This climate phenomenon shifts warm ocean water across the tropical Pacific, acting like an incubator for storms like Polo in the Eastern Pacific.